High
by pinkeop
Summary: AU - Re-write! A love would never last without the hate.


**title** High

**author** pinkeop

**summary** AU - In the Twilight world boy loves girl, girl loves boy, boy and girl live happily ever after. In my world the love of a boy and a girl are put through torturous tests and their relationship strained to the limit. A love would never last without the hate that comes along with it.

**disclaimer** This is an extremely AU story. Jaquilin Conner belongs to me and will be told from her point of view. The Cullens and their likliness belong to Stephenie Meyer along with the rest of her imaginary friends.

**authors note** A long, long time ago, back when I was in eighth grade and thought I could write worth a flying poop. I've got a few more years of writing under my belt and I remember promising that I was going to rewrite this story. Once under the pen name "Shawnell", now under this one.

**This story takes place in the future of 2030. Bella died in 2005 at Jame's hand. Don't like it? Don't read it.**

Not your normal desperate made up self insert, I promise you. I have credibility among my readers, I swear!

Well.... here goes nothing.

--

**Chapter One** Beautiful Dawn

The early morning air was thick with fog, nipped with cold. The heavy clouds loomed over head, snuffing the rarely seen sun into submission. The mud sloshed beneath my books, the grass wet and sodden. The space between my back door and the figure of the barn, struggling to hold it's shape against the fog, closed with every tired, slow step that I took across the water logged ground. I tipped my headd back, glaring at the very idea of rain, even though the concept was not a foreign one. I had lived with rain as a near constant companion since I was 12, when my sister and I moved to the dreary town of Forks, Washington- a scuff mark on the outstretched fingers of the United States.

The land we lived on had once been, perhaps, a great farm of sorts, though the rain didn't much seem the right type of weather for it. Now, it held only one barn and the trees pushed in on the open field around our home. The trees seemed to slink in more and more every year. Slowly suffocating. Creeping up on the open land, stealing the unoccupied space.

Around the entirety of our property was a wire fence, though it wasn't electric. Most of it had been replaced with wood. Only our house and a thin dirt path leading to the paved road going into town was left open. The fence had been put up when I was fourteen, after another member of the family had joined us here in Forks- and with her, a whole new set of chores.

I heaved my short body over a part of the wire fence, my boots stuck with mud when I hit the ground on the other side. I put two fingers to my lips and let loose a whistle, the sound traveling across the miles of open field and forest. I started against towards the open stable barn, but I was met with no enthusiastic mare poking her head out, or coming to me across the rain soaked field, eager for her breakfast. A frown touched my lips. The stable door was ajar, as per usual, and I stepped inside. The nippy breeze ceased once I had four walls around me.

The plain brown mare stood quiet and patient in her stall at the end nearest the wall. Big, reflective eyes watched me with a skittish wariness I had never once seen on her face. I slipped closer, touching the edge of her jaw with nonthreatening fingers.

"Hey, sweet puppy," I murmured, stroking her snout. Her nose brushed against my palm. "What're you doing hiding in here, Dolly, huh?"

Dolly snorted but otherwise said nothing else, her comment a breath of steam in the chilly air. I smiled warmly, kissing the white patch between her eyes before turning away. Against the wall was a thick blue tin and I pulled off the lid. An akwardly packed pile of hay was stuffed inside and I dragged a whole armful out, setting it in the mare's food troft. She nudged my back with her nose as I left and I pat her flank as I edged out.

Dolly was, without a doubt, my very best friend. It seemed silly to love such a dirty beast. Yet, I found that she never once looked stupidly at me when I complained about my sister- never told me that I should be more greatful. I need no impress her. Always she saw me in my chore-clothes and my hair thrown up. Hell- I shoveled her shit. She had no room to judge, and with her big black humorous eyes and constantly amused expression, she didn't.

I started back towards the house, just barely aware that the fog was lifting and the clouds were starting to thin. The idea of sun today was enough to speed up my pace. Even the sound of my sister's high pitched whistle out the back door couldn't annoy me. (_As if she wasn't aware that I knew I needed to come back in and ready myself!_) I clambered over the fence, glancing over my shoulder, back at the barn, where the figure of the barn was out of focus, the fog not ready to lift itself. I fret momentarily over Dolly, but found myself jogging up towards the back porch on the house without much more hesitation.

Inside, it was a rush of warmth and I was delighted not to see my breath in front of my face. I closed the back door and kicked off my boots by the door. The small space between the kitchen and the porch was lovingly referred to as the _mud room_. It smelt faintly like horse crap, mostly because that's where we kept almost everything horse-related and, always, it seemed to fall into a nice big pile of...

I stepped daintily into the kitchen, pausing in the threshold, watching my sister's turned back as she stood at the stove.

Diane and I looked nothing alike. She was ten years my senior, with hair straight as a tact and a warm brunette in color. It hung almost around her butt, it was so long. I thought she looked like our mom- tall, thin, leggy, with a sweet round face. Bright green eyes always seemed to hold some sort of secret, the curve of her smile having brought her many suitors over the years since I'd lived with her.

I was her exact opposite. My hair was darker, near black, and awfully unruly. I often spent hours trying to tame the wild, thick curls. I was short, too, barely reaching five-three, and a size eight. I always fancied that curves drove the eyes wild. I had no evidence yet, but my time was better spent doing things other than hating my body.

Diane and I weren't awfully close. She was always leading an extravagant teenager's life back when I was young enough to idolize her. After our mother died, I went to live with her. Our real bonding moment came when we spread a map across the kitchen table and picked out the most far-away town to live in the United States. Hence came Forks.

"Morning, Dee," I greeted, stepping into the kitchen. My sister looked over her shoulder and grinned warmly. She gave a grand gesture towards the sausage and eggs sizzling in the skillet, and a plate on the counter that was already made up.

"Made ya breakfast," she crowed. I smiled; it was a sweet gesture. Diane never cooked.

"Thanks." I edged closer, eying the full plate. My stomach grumbled. "What's the occasion?"

"Must I have an agenda just to cook my baby sister breakfast?" She looked at me all too sweetly, but I took the offered plate and sat at the small table in the kitchen, thrust under the tiny alcove across from the counters. I wasted no time stuffing my face- it was delicious! My sister and I chattered a bit, chewing the fat and shooting the breeze. She ate leaning against the counter, plate balanced on five graceful finger tips.

By the time I'd rinsed my plate, my morning routine was sorely delayed. I rushed through my shower and didn't dare even try brushing through my hair. I tossed it up in a pony tail and tucked loose strands back with an army of bobby pins. I took a little extra time getting dressed, trying to find something that was clean. Just because I had enough clothes to go without laundry for two weeks didn't exactly mean I should.

I was buttoning my jeans when Diane's voice carried up the stairs, "Bus is here!"

Awfully disorganized, I bumbled down the steps, trying to slip on my sneakers and my jacket at the same time. I barked a fair-well to Diane, flying out the door just as the big yellow bus honked impatiently, my bag falling off my shoulder.

Charlie, my bus driver, opened the doors for me and grunted a gruff, "Heya, Jaquilin," as I climbed the steps. I nodded, out of breath, before wading my way towards the back, tossing my school bag onto an open seat, sliding in by the window.

I was not alone for long. My bus filled up fast with us out-of-town kids. The open spot beside me was quickly filled by none other than my sweet-faced companion, my best friend right behind Dolly: Marlow Joad. The lanky senior dropped to my side, looking tired behind his teal glasses, shaggy blond hair swept over his face. His bag dropped between his knees. If this was a movie, the music, having been nothing but background noise, would come to a crescendo, then stop all together as the first important interaction of the main character took place.

"Hey," Marlow greeted in the silence of the paused music.

"Morning," was my own reply, muffled around a small yawn. He chuckled, reaching over to tug on my pony tail.

"Did you hear?" He asked. I waited a beat, but he didn't go on, not giving me a chance to let him know if I did or did not hear whatever new information he was going to bestow on me regardless of my answer. I wrinkled my nose, irate with his dramatic pause. I was never up to date with the local rumor mill.

"Hear what?" I asked, turning to look out the fog clouded window, brushing away some condensation on the inside of the glass with my finger tips.

"New kids," Marlow said. I turned my head to look at him.

"Really?" I was minutely disgusted with the curious excitement in my voice.

Marlow, having grabbed my attention, grinned in triumph. He nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. They moved over the weekend. Big family. Five kids. They all looked high-school age."

I wrinkled my nose. "Where did you see 'em?" I asked.

"My mom sold them a house outside of town- you know, the one just off the highway where kids used to sneak in and get drunk?" Marlow grinned. He always seemed ready to feed the grape vine. "They all looked super creepy."

I scoffed, shoving his shoulder with my own. "You're totally lying."

"Am not!" He objected, sounding offended by the very idea that I could possibly suggest such a thing.

"I don't wanna catch you terrorizing the new kids," I warned, well aware that Marlow considered himself the unofficial 'welcome' committee. He grinned and I felt my lips smiling back. A silence fell over us for the remainder of the bus ride and the background music started up again.

Forks High School had been several buildings that held a number of class rooms. They had changed it long before I came to Forks, but the trophy hall still held pictures long past of the old buildings, all of them in grainy colors and sepia. Now, for my generation, it was one large building on the other side of the town as the grade school. I imagined that the tiny population hadn't changed much. Nobody wanted to live in Forks. Not even the people who lived here really wanted to live here.

Unless you picked the place out on a map.

I jumped off the bus after Marlow, engaged in a heated debate about the English homework and whether or not his interpretation of the grandmother's death in Grapes of Wrath was correct. It wasn't. Our argument only lasted so long before his attention was directed else where, in the form of a thin, leggy blond that came skipping towards us. Marlow tugged her delightedly into his arms and I wrinkled my nose at the sight.

"Hey, baby," the blonde cooed, leaning onto her toes to plant a kiss on his lips.

Jade Logan was Marlow's practically-fiance. I couldn't remember a time since I'd known them that they hadn't been completely enamored with one another. Twice they had been Couple of the Year for the year book. Jade was sweet, if not a bit of an utter perfectionist. At times she got a bit nit-picky, telling me what I was doing right and wrong, rarely the former. I put up with her for Marlow. They were inseperable. Soulmates.

"Have you seen the new kids, yet?" Jade asked excitedly, pulling away from Marlow to look at the both of us.

I shook my head while Marlow nodded. "Are they around?" I asked curiously, craning my neck to look about the parking lot as we made out way towards the front doors of the school. I could see no one unfamiliar, but for the freshmen who's faces went without names. I felt a pang of disappointment that came with missing the small-town gossip.

"They were inside. Oh, my god. You have to see them." Jade gave me a firm look.

"Marlow says they're creepy," I offered as we ascended the front steps, a herd of students doing much the same around us. Jade snorted.

"Really? Has our vocabulary dissolved to that of a third grader?"

I clenched my teeth- she wasn't reprimanding Marlow.

"He said it," I grumbled childishly.

We parted ways, Jade and Marlow to their practically shared locker, and me to my own. The news about the new students was all everyone talked about. Two honor students by my locker were already sharing insane facts that I wasn't sure where they got them. I was less curious than I ought to have been, I knew. Forks didn't get many new folks. Every social clique would be fighting for them. Blood would be shed.

The warning bell rang and I slammed closed my locker, hitching my government book and notebook higher in my arms. The hallways started to thin and I took up a brisk walk to get to my first hour. This would be the part of the movie where the music again would drown out the background noise. Insight would be given to our main character, showing the monotony with which she went about her day. The bell rang just as I dropped into my seat in the corner of the room and the music ground to a halt in sync.

"Hey, Jackie," Hannah Udell greeted, leaning across the aisle of desks, our teacher running a little bit late. The bleach blond smiled her perfect, straight teethed smile and I offered one back. Hannah was awfully nosey and fancied herself a good friend of mine. I didn't have much against her other than she could rival Marlow in the gossip department.

"Hi, Hannah," I replied, stretching my legs out into the aisle. I could already hear the question poised on her lips. Her curiosity would not be stifled.

"Have you seen the new kids?" Two girls turned their heads at the sound of Hannah's voice. I sunk a little in my desk.

"Uh, no," I answered. "But Marlow's mom sold them their house."

"Yeah, I heard that too," a small sophomore in front of Hannah offered, turning around to join the conversation. We both glanced at her and her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

"Anyway," Hannah hedged. "I saw them all in the parking lot this morning. They drive a pretty bitching car."

I rolled my eyes. "What do they look like?" I asked. "Marlow says--"

"Totally creep-tastic. They don't even look alike. But they're all... totally gorgeous. The girls look like models." Her face seemed appalled. I bit back a laugh.

"How many?" I asked, letting the curiosity creep into my voice.

"Two girls and three guys." Hannah said.

"I hear they're all adopted by the hospital's new doctor and his wife." A girl, who I dimly recalled being named Nitsa Vue, turned around in her seat, two up and one row over. She grinned. "My mom says the nurses talk."

"Well, that would explain them not looking alike," I offered. "They're all adopted." Hannah scowled.

"But not the weird creepy similar-ness. You have to see them to understand."

Nitsa nodded. "It is pretty unusual."

I rolled my eyes again. "Come on, guys. They're new students. It's not a conspiracy."

Hannah didn't look too ashamed, but no more was said on the subject. Our teacher, Ms. Hover, strut into the room. She was a beautiful, voluptuous woman who carried authority as well as she carried sensuality. Behind her by a few tentative steps, was a face that I knew was the object of all the rumors- at least, one of them.

The girl was small and delicate. She looked faintly like a pixie of sorts, her features sharp and defined. Her skin was as pale as any Forks native and gave a faint glow in the florescent lights. The way she moved was with distinct and deliberate slowness, each step on calculation after the other. Her hair was short and spiky, seeming wet from an earlier shower. Bright, light honey eyes swept over the whole of the class, not giving any one a particular glance. Her clothes were simple, modest, jeans and a tee-shirt under a light jacket. I felt my self-esteem drop a few pegs. If I didn't think about hating my body before, I did now.

"Good morning, class." Ms. Hover broke everyone's scrutiny of the new girl, reluctantly dragging out attention back to her.

"Good morning, Ms. Hover," we all chanted back.

"As I'm sure you've all heard, we have several new students joining us here at Forks. Everyone, this is Mary Alice Cullen." Ms. Hover gestured towards Mary Alice, who stood at the front of the class, quietly holding her bag. All eyes drunk in her beauty. "Mary Alice, would you like to share something about yourself with the class?"

I felt bad for her, but she flashed a perfect smile and seemed not at all frightened of the eyes that bore into her.

"I like to be called Alice." When she spoke, it was like bells. A perfect, rare symphony. My stomach swooped and I sat up a little straighter, leaning against my desk. "My family and I moved here from Maine. All my siblings, including myself, were adopted at a young age by Dr. Cullen and his wife, Esme." And then, as if tacking on an after thought, the child-like pixie grinned through saying, "I'm sixteen."

There was no real end to her impromptu speech, but the way she looked at us all, I knew we all yearned for more but expected none.

"Lovely, Miss Cullen," Ms. Hover said, ultimately flustered with the beauty of the new student as well. And she was only one of five! "Why don't you go and take a seat in the desk beside Jaquilin, there?"

Helpfully, my belly doing somersaults with her golden searching eyes, I raised my band to show who I was. I felt a strange feeling in her knowing eyes as they observed me with each step she took towards the back of the room. Then, just like that, those golden eyes were facing the front as our teacher called attention to her.

Government droned slowly on, all ears focused on the lecture, pencils and pens scribbling in various hand writings across clean note-book pages. Every once in a while, someone could glance back at Alice Cullen, but she kept attentive eyes on the front at all times. When the bell rang, she turned her head to look at me with those honey eyes before she stood and left, walking from the room without looking back.

Hannah gasped, grabbing my arm as I shifted my school bag onto my shoulder, the room erupting in chatter as it emptied. "I told you the girls were gorgeous!" She exclaimed. I shrugged, glancing over my shoulder as I swept out the door, blond in tow.

"She's pretty," I admitted.

Marlow met me at the end of the hall, Hannah becoming preoccupied by others in her social circle.

"Did I see one of the Cullens coming from your classroom?" He asked, tucking an arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah," I shrugged again. "Alice Cullen. She's pretty." Lame. Lame. Lame. Way to go, Conner.

"She's _stunning_!" Marlow defended. I snorted.

"Don't let Jade hear you say that," I teased. He laughed and dropped his arm. Our next class, Algebra 2, was together. These morning thinker classes, I'll tell ya- they kicked my ass.

As we came around the corner to the main all, lined with all the senior lockers, I saw all five of them together for the first time.

Little Alice bound into the open arms of a tall, blonde male, thick muscles straining against the rolled up sleeves of a white oxford shirt. His hair hung in a shaggy mess around his face. They embraced briefly, but something secret and intimate passed between them. Engaged in a quiet discussion near by were the other three, not pausing when their sister returned. The second girl was tall, with a physical presence. Her blonde hair was twisted by her shoulder blondes in the most gorgeous, natural curls I'd ever seen. She made me hate how I looked even worse than Mary Alice had. Her hand was twisted around one of her brother's who wasn't really her brother.

Holding the blonde's hand was a burly, scary looking fellow. He towered over his not-siblings with large muscles that strained under his tee-shirt. His fore arm would be able to break a few of my ribs alone. His short chopped hair was brown and curly, his face broad and angular, but just as attractive as the others. His eyes, I thought, flashed towards where Marlow and I observed. They held a danger in their whiskey irises.

The last of the five _was_ looking at us. Direct and deliberate. Besides Alice, he looked the youngest. His face was tight, jaw straining against where his teeth clicked together behind thin lips. His hair was bronze, almost red, and was decidedly messy, hanging over his forehead and this way and that. He carried his bag by the straps in one careless hand, a thick book by the spine in the other, his white sleeves rolled up to the elbow beneath a red tee-shirt. How... simple. His expression was cold, but I couldn't find hostility in it.

Zoom. Close up on the similar honey eyes. Soft indie sound track.

And then, just like that, all five swept past us without a single second glance.

"Dear God," Marlow groaned, grabbing my arm. "Tell me I'm still straight!"

I laughed, coming from my daze, refusing to look over my shoulder the way Marlow was at the retreating family. "Mostly," I told him. "You may now consider yourself homo-flexible."

He pushed my shoulder and we continued, both a little star-stuck, on to Algebra 2.

The rest of the day went slow.

But, if I were to treat it like a movie, it would fade to black. Music would drown out everything else- something soft, classical maybe. Piano music. Then, it would snap to the next scene at the final bell, and we would find out heroine standing up from the desk in her Astronomy class, looking surprised that the bell had rung when it did.

I sighed softly, pulling my school bag over my shoulders, herding myself into the hall with the rest of the class, like sheep to be shorn. I made my way to my locker, which was my normal meeting spot with Marlow, listening to the snippets of conversations I was catching through the halls.

(_The red-head is H-O-T! Oh, my god._)

(_He's not a red-head. He's... delicious!_)

Followed by inane giggles. I grinned to myself.

(_I don't think any are lesbians, Sarah_.)

(_Crush my dreams, why dontcha!_)

I spun the dial on my locker, yanking it open with a metallic clang. I pulled out my government and algebra books, tucking them into my bag. I knew I wouldn't crack at them until much later that night. Homework was an inconvenience to my doing jack shit.

When I shut my locker door I gasped in surprise at finding, there up against the wall of lockers, right by mine, watching me with big, grinning eyes, Mary Alice Cullen. I brought a hand to my throat, my heart fluttering.

"Um. Hi." I stammered.

"Hello, Jaquilin." She chirped brightly. Her voice was like jingle bells, I thought, helplessly enraptured with the way her elfin nose perched above two curved, smiling lips. I waited for her to say something. She didn't.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked politely. "Need to find... someone or... anything?" I felt stupid and promptly shut up.

"Government homework," she said warmly, holding up her book so I could see it. "I didn't write it down."

"Urr... read all of chapter seven and then... ah, do the questions at the end." I nodded.

Alice watched me for a moment longer. Then her face fell. She looked vaguely disappointed.

"Okay," she said quietly. I opened my mouth to say something helpful, but I was cut off by the sound of a gruff, commanding voice behind me.

"Are you coming, Mary Alice?"

I whipped around to find the tall red-head (_though apparently the color was under debate_) peering over the top of my head at his not-sister. Up close, his face was tense, almost angry. He didn't look like he smiled a day in his life. Brooding. His brows were permanently etched into a frown. My breath caught desperately into my lungs.

"I'll be there in a moment, if you would just be patient, Edward." Alice said firmly from over my shoulder. I bit back a smile. She suonded awfully annoyed. He may have scared me- but little Alice? Not a chance. He grunted and turned away, slinking back the way he'd come, tail tucked firmly between his legs.

"He's just a big bully," Alice grumbled softly.

I turned back to smile quietly at her. "New schools make everyone a little tense," I offered. "Cut him some slack."

Alice huffed and I had a feeling Edward Cullen could bungee jump with all the slack he had been cut.

"You better get on," I told her, gesturing where her brother had gone off. "I'll uh... I'll see you in Government."

Alice smiled fleetingly, before she brushed by, walking down the thinning hall way. When I turned away, I saw several faces watching me, watching the exchange, and Marlow's surprised eyes from halfway down the hall as he made his way towards me.

Zoom in on main character, her face slightly off center for artistic effect. Snap to black.


End file.
